Weekly Newsletters

Newsletter 7/2018

9 March, 2018

Phoenix Fund 2018

When welcoming students and staff back from midterm break on Wednesday I announced the Phoenix Fund campaign for 2018. I talked briefly about how the Phoenix Fund has helped the community to fund certain projects within the school in the past, including the solar lights that are currently being installed on campus. I would like to request the community, including parents to support this year’s campaign. The Phoenix Fund campaign rallies the Waterford Kamhlaba community - students, staff, parents and Governing Council - together to contribute resources towards setting up, improving and replacing infrastructure at the school. This initiative is more than just raising money; it is a collective gift by our community to our school, particularly towards small, but crucial, infrastructure enhancements that are not covered in the budget for capital projects. Consider your Phoenix Fund donation a personal gift to Waterford Kamhlaba. Any amount is welcome. It also enables us to show potential donors that we are also committed to fund-raising within the community and not simply asking external donors for gifts. We have asked the students and staff for suggestions on projects that the funds raised can be used for.

Listeriosis – Message from Capitol Caterers

We have taken immediate action regarding the Listeriosis outbreak to ensure the quality and integrity of the food served in our units. All processed and cold meats have been isolated in our kitchens and undergoing a recall process. We have removed all processed meats from our cycle menus nationwide and will not serve anything of this nature until further notice. Safe replacement items will be found on the menu instead of processed meats. All kitchens are undergoing a stringent cleaning and sanitizing process to ensure that any cross contamination will not occur going forward. Should you be concerned about the nature of suppliers we are utilizing, certificates and reports can be requested from our Head Office. Our procurement department is notifying our suppliers that we will cease the buying of processed meats until further notice. We are further requesting up to date clearance certificates and reports to verify the origin and hygiene of other meats and processing. Please note that whilst we are exercising due diligence at every controllable point possible, we will not be held directly liable for the spread of Listeriosis originating in products previously consumed or served. Please don’t hesitate to contact us should you require more information.

Tarryn Page, Health and Safety Officer – Head Office

The Visual Arts Trip

Students will depart for Johannesburg on the IBDP Visual Arts trip on Wednesday 14th March and return to Waterford campus on Sunday 18th March. Mr. Ricardo Chozas and I will be accompanying the students. We will visit the following exhibitions:

Circa Gallery: ‘We are now, what you once were’ by Michael MacGarry, guided tour by the artist.

David Krut Bookstore Gallery: ‘It is Well: An Ode to Karabo' by Lebo Thoka, guided tour by the artist.

On Thursday evening we will be privileged to attend an event entitled - 'In Conversation: Kentridge and Nhlengethwa' at the Center for the Less Good Idea. Two renowned South African artists William Kentridge and Sam Nhlengethwa, both born in 1955 in South Africa, one white and the other black, will reveal how their artistic lives have diverged and converged over the years. This will be followed by Music for Your Eyes by Luca Ciarla (violin, electronics, toy instruments) and video art installations by Keziat. The evening will conclude with Clone, performed by Darkroom Contemporary, with music by Brydon Bolton and choreographed by Louise Coetzer.

On Friday morning we will be engaged in a short Monotype workshop at the Wits School of Art with printmakers Vincent Baloyi and Thabiso Kolobeng, organised by David Andrew (SA WK 1974-76). The WK Visual Arts Department’s relationship with the Wits School of Art goes back to 1990; for 16 years we enjoyed having Prof. Alan Crump as our face-to-face IBDP Visual Arts external examiner. Under the expert guidance of Prof. Crump, we were able to establish contacts with some of the best artists and galleries in Johannesburg. We are very grateful to David Andrew for maintaining his links with WK’s Visual Arts Department.

Goodman Gallery: ‘Speaking the Unspeakable’ by Grada Kilomba, where we will attend the exhibition opening.

Community Service

Last week Form 4 were involved in their CAS day. They spent the day helping at 2 different centres. The Hawane Centre is moving its substance abuse centre to the Hawane sight and they required some help with the garden, fixing the road and preparing some vegetable patches in preparation for the move. Although it was extremely hot, the Form 4's worked with determination and showed a lot of team spirit.

This weekend a group of Waterford students will be working with some of the students from Mpaka Refugee Camp in small tutoring groups. They will be concentrating on Math and English.
Another group will be traveling to an area near Pigg’s Peak on Saturday to work with a rural school.
On Wednesday 14th March the Swaziland National Blood Transfusion Service will be here taking blood from willing volunteers. This is a voluntary service but students may only give blood if they are over 16 years of age and weigh more than 50kg.

School Visits

Next week we welcome Neil Cifuentes who is the Assistant Director of the Global Citizenship Program at St Marks School in the US where his primary responsibility is the exchange programs, so part of his visit will be to continue exploring the possibility of a faculty and/or student exchange program. He has heard about Waterford for several years now so he has been eager to visit and experience WK. Neil is also a full time Spanish teacher and varsity soccer coach back home. While at WK, he will get to interact with staff and students. Please do give him the usual cordial Waterford welcome, and thanks in advance to the teachers who have offered to host him in their classes.

Entrance Testing for Admission in 2019

Our entrance testing dates and venues are listed below. These dates and times are also available on our website. Please register siblings and spread the word to families and friends. The testing dates are as follows:

Saturday March 10th – 8am – WK Campus – for the Forms and IB (including all Swaziland National Committee applicants)

Applicants residing beyond Swaziland can make appointments to test on campus on a mutually convenient weekday by contacting the Director of Admissions at careers@waterford.sz

Sporting Activities

Hockey: This morning our hockey team travelled to Eshowe for a tournament. They will be back on Sunday.

Soccer and Tennis: Today our soccer and tennis teams travel to AISM in Mozambique for a tournament. They will be back on Sunday. We wish our teams the best of luck.

Inter-house Athletics: Next Tuesday we have our inter-house athletics competition, a whole school event. All students are expected to be on the sports field, if not participating, supporting their teams. All parents and guardians are welcome too.

If you have any questions and feedback, please don’t hesitate to drop me a line at principal@waterford.sz If the question is of broad interest I will publish the question (with the permission of the writer and without the name) and my reply in the newsletter.